A milestone episode with a trio of wonderful clinician's - adding their perspective on the latest F-word: Fitness!By Dr Dayna Pool and Kate Dolling

This week we catch up with Nate! An incredible eight-year-old boy who talks about his day, including his experiences at school....from recess being too short to playing with friends on the playground, (note, he's too cool for games like chasey! 😉) From being a Telethon 2024 star to all his extra curricular activities, Nate is a busy boy - focused o…

We're joined this week by special guest, Taj and his mother, Danica! The conversation focuses on Taj's life, particularly his passion for footy (AFL) and whilst he is a big fan of the Geelong Cats, he is happy to support the West Coast Eagles if they're playing of course! 😉 Taj shares a recent highlight when he got the opportunity to play during ha…

This week's F word is Fitness! Mobility is medicine and this week, we talk about what movement means for our bodies. This is relevant to all of us because long, uninterrupted sitting is not great for our health. Our goal is to break up long periods of sitting to move more and be physically active. Movement is great for our lungs, digestive system, …

This week we continues the discussion on the topic of family, reflecting on our previous conversation with Jen Prior! It's important to emphasise that family isn't limited to blood relatives but includes the people you trust and do life with. It is integral to the "f-words" because it provides the why, how, and when for decisions, including pursuin…

We catch up with Jen Prior - an incredible mother (to the one and only Emily Prior), an advocate and a founding member of the Healthy Strides Foundation! We get to speak with her about all things F-Words and FAMILY in particular!By Dr Dayna Pool and Kate Dolling

We're back with a 2nd episode with the incredible Emily Prior! This time we discuss FUN - one of the very best F-words! 🥳By Dr Dayna Pool and Kate Dolling

This week we catch up with Emma! An incredible advocate and parent, she describes herself as a big kid and a perfect example of this week's F-word, F.U.N, in action! Emma's thoughts on the importance of fun really hit home for me. It's so easy to get bogged down in appointments and therapies, especially in the beginning, and forget that the simple …

Why FUN matters so much in therapy and everyday life! We kick things off by talking about how a lack of enjoyment can make therapy feel like a chore—limiting engagement, motivation, and progress. FUN doesn’t mean easy; it means finding joy in the journey and making therapy something kids want to come back to. We share our own experiences of how the…

Friends with Emily Prior! Model, Actor, Activist and friend (see what we did there! 😉) of the show - the returning Emily Prior. Emily has appeared on our sister podcast ResearchWorks and is here for a 2 episode stint with Dayna and Kate! An amazing conversation with an amazing young woman!By Dr Dayna Pool and Kate Dolling

This week we catch up with Rynae to talk about FRIENDS - a parent's perspective! Kate's write-up to come!By Dr Dayna Pool and Kate Dolling

As a parent, it can be easy to miss the importance of incorporating friendships and social-emotional development into your child's therapy goals much earlier.... In the beginning, there's such a strong focus on early intervention and neuroplasticity that it's easy to put friendships on the back burner. Now I see that mobility and fitness are gatewa…

This week we're joined by Kellie! In this episode of TheraBytes, we get to speak with Kellie, the mother of Nate, a child with cerebral palsy, about function and the F-words. Kellie shares her experiences and insights on what function looked like for Nate in his early years, and what it looks like today. She emphasises the importance of adapting to…

This week we welcome back Noraishah! Noraishah's back to discuss FUNction and its meaning in the context of therapy and child development. In this episode, Noraishah shares her personal experiences and insights as a parent, particularly focusing on her son's journey and the evolution of her understanding of FUNction. Initially, her focus was simply…

We introduce our first F word of the season, FUNCTION. The definition of function is what people do and luckily for children, play is what they do. What we want for our children is for them to be able to play. We discuss that in the “old days” treatment looked different, the idea was to “fix” what was wrong in order for the person to function but i…

We're back for a new season of TheraBytes! 🥳 We have an incredibly special guest in the studio this week - we catch up with Noraishah, co-host of the 1st season of the pod, joining Dayna and Kate for a brilliant look back at our past 2 seasons! If you're new to the pod, be sure to check out this episode, it's great place to start! 🎙️ As for Season …

It can be so hard to figure out exactly what's going on with our kids, especially when they have cerebral palsy. It feels like everything gets put under that one umbrella, even when we know there might be more to the story. It's really important to remember that cerebral palsy doesn't explain every challenge our children face. They might be struggl…

What makes a therapy controversial? (Part 1) On our last podcast episode “how to ask for a second opinion” I mentioned a therapy we tried when our son was younger, saying I wished I had done more research and asked for second opinions from our medical team. This brought about more questions and conversation about all the therapies available and fam…

This week's podcast episode focused on a question that I'm sure many parents have asked themselves: how to politely but confidently ask for a second opinion when unsure or unhappy with a medical diagnosis, outcome, or lack of outcome. If you have concerns about the care of your child or loved one, don't hesitate to voice them. You can politely ask …

As a parent of a child with a neurodisability, I'm always looking for ways to make therapy more effective and meaningful, and the concept of the "six Fs" really resonated with me. What I loved most was how practical the F-words are. They remind us to consider the bigger picture when setting goals – not just focusing on physical achievements like wa…

By Dr Dayna Pool and Kate Dolling

In this episode, we explore some of the reasons why therapy can be put on hold and the view that therapy can be seasonal. It is simply not possible or healthy to have ongoing therapy. The purpose of therapy is really to bridge the gap between where children are right now and where they want to be. So having periods of time to work on a goal is just…

Trustworthy research and the latest news in the world of neurodisability Dayna and the whole Healthy Strides team recently attended the AusACPDM conference on the Gold Coast. I sat down with Dayna to ask the important questions and the key takeaways were: The content of the conference confirmed that Healthy Strides is sitting at the front end when …

Professional sporting and Paralympics Today we discussed what modified and accessible sports are available to families who might be feeling motivated after watching the Paralympics. If your child has an interest and enjoys or has friends already playing a sport they want to play with, then you can start there. Do they like throwing a ball, bouncing…

What is the perfect balance of therapy and school? On today's podcast Dayna and I discuss what the ideal balance could look like once your child starts school or daycare. Being told it was time to slow down on therapy and let our child be a child was an important permission I needed to alleviate the parental guilt associated with reducing the thera…

This was another really important topic we discussed today as it's a question we get a lot in the clinic and that is about sending a child with a neurodisability to daycare. There are many reasons a family will send a child to daycare, so the parents can work or get some respite or it may be to socialise their child. Dayna and I discuss the benefit…

When to present to ED (or call an ambulance) A lot of the time it can be very clear when you need to call an ambulance or present to ED such as for seizures, breathing issues, and severe illness but there is also a lot of gray area with some of our children and i know a lot of us do our best to avoid the “bugs” in hospital’s and unnecessary medical…

How to troubleshoot when something is wrong with a non verbal child. It can be so distressing for everyone involved when something is wrong with your child and they can't tell you what, it's really hard to know where to start sometimes, when to take action and who can help. A lot of families have to rely on intuition and sometimes this intuition wo…

This has been a common question and topic not only within the neurodisability community but also the families and carers of neurotypical children. What is too much screen time and when is screen time a bad thing? The research covered in this article is available here: Mallawaarachchi S, Burley J, Mavilidi M, et al. Early Childhood Screen Use Contex…

GMFCS - When to expect a GMFCS score and can this change over time? As parents and carers of children with neurodisabilities we can't help but hyperfocus on the few bits of information we can get when our children are young that give us insight into our children's future. The Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) is one of those tools …

This week we discuss all things self-regulation and behaviour management.By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

Therabytes - Taking medication, when should I contact my medical team if things don't look right? A conversation about observations, intuition and lines of communication between the child, the family and the medical team/s.By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

Unlock the Power of Goal Setting! TheraBytes is back with another stellar question and answer - this week we tackle the concept of SMART goals. Why do you set goals? There is huge power in setting goals - it helps you and everyone in your world to prioritise what is important. SMART goals: 🟠 Specific - be as specific as possible 🟡 Measurable - make…

What to do if you feel like your child is not making the right amount of gains in their skills or you believe you are seeing some skills being lost. It can be very complicated and knowing what to record, observe and report can be so valuable.By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

All about using equipment to encourage movement!By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

On this week's TheraBytes episode, we delve into the science of early walking, uncovering its benefits and significance. It's all about mobility as a human right!By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

💪By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

All about trunk control and hypotonia!By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

All about Dysphagia! Dysphagia means that an individual may have impaired swallowing. It is an impairment that can be observed in people with cerebral palsy or neuromuscular diseases. It occurs when the individual isn't able to safely swallow due to changes in muscle tone or altered coordination. It is so important to identify dysphagia because it …

This week on TheraBytes we cover the topic of Dystonia - what it is, the causes, the symptoms and treatments.By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

All about high tone - Spasticity - describes something that happens to our muscles when we have an upper motor neuron injury. A discovery of more than just a simple understanding of the ‘elastic band’ theory, especially within the context of cerebral palsy. Spasticity is another diagnosis that originates from the injured brain either at birth or po…

An episode that highlights how important those hip X- Ray appointments are, as a standard monitoring program for children with CP. It makes us understand why we wander through the hospital corridors every 6 or 12 months and answers what it is the Doctors are looking out for. Family discussions post X- Ray being taken, and the Doctors point to the m…

Is pain in therapy ok? Why the concept of "no pain, no gain" is an outdated and dangerous philosophy.By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

This week we discuss the "magic" of stem cells. Families have many questions - and in our byte-sized episode - we try to answer some of the more common questions we're asked about stem cells. What are they? How do they work? What effect do they actually have? Where can I get them? and so much more.By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

The Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) and the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS).By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

How do you know what therapy is best? Use the traffic light system! 🔴 Don't do it 🟠 Maybe do it 🟢 The best available All based on the latest science, knowledge, understandings, evidence and research. https://cerebralpalsy.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/11910_2020_Article_1022.pdfBy Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

The financials - how do I make my (NDIS) funds last?By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

What is diagnosis?By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim

The pilot episode of Therabytes! See www.healthystridesfoundation.com for all the details! Evidence based practice - What is it? Is it important and if so, Why?By Dr Dayna Pool and Noraishah Naim